Abe Newman
@abenewman.bsky.social
W/Henry Farrell, Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy (Holt 2023/Penguin); Georgetown; This is a private account.
Reposted by Abe Newman
More so than liberalism, the commitment to sovereignty itself seems to be changing. Of course it is Newman who lays out a clear way to think about this transitional era
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:37 PM
More so than liberalism, the commitment to sovereignty itself seems to be changing. Of course it is Newman who lays out a clear way to think about this transitional era
Reposted by Abe Newman
Whole 🧵 is 💯
12/Why does Trump keep denigrating the EU? Because it is a remnant of the old order and must be delegitimized to make way for the new order.
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
EU was born to 'screw' US, Trump says
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the European Union was born to "screw" the United States, laying bare his hostility to the longtime US partner as he detailed new tariffs.
www.france24.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Whole 🧵 is 💯
Reposted by Abe Newman
This will be far from the last word on how to think about the future of the international order after Trump II, but it gives a more useful starting place than transactionalism, perhaps even than global illiberalism
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:28 PM
This will be far from the last word on how to think about the future of the international order after Trump II, but it gives a more useful starting place than transactionalism, perhaps even than global illiberalism
Reposted by Abe Newman
small groups of hyper elites protecting other hyper elites - see new work by @abenewman.bsky.social & Stacie Goddard
An ABC News reporter asked about U.S. intelligence findings that MBS ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump interrupted, attacked the reporter, then defended MBS: "He knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking something like that."
Trump interrupted, attacked the reporter, then defended MBS: "He knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking something like that."
November 18, 2025 at 5:52 PM
small groups of hyper elites protecting other hyper elites - see new work by @abenewman.bsky.social & Stacie Goddard
Ramifications of Saudi deal cannot be underestimated.
"U.S. sale of fighter jets to Riyadh could upend [Israel]'s “qualitative military edge,” a long-standing American law that ensures Pentagon weapons ...do not erode Tel Aviv’s military advantages"
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
"U.S. sale of fighter jets to Riyadh could upend [Israel]'s “qualitative military edge,” a long-standing American law that ensures Pentagon weapons ...do not erode Tel Aviv’s military advantages"
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump says he will sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia
The president's comments, which could antagonize Israel, come a day before he welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House.
www.politico.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Ramifications of Saudi deal cannot be underestimated.
"U.S. sale of fighter jets to Riyadh could upend [Israel]'s “qualitative military edge,” a long-standing American law that ensures Pentagon weapons ...do not erode Tel Aviv’s military advantages"
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
"U.S. sale of fighter jets to Riyadh could upend [Israel]'s “qualitative military edge,” a long-standing American law that ensures Pentagon weapons ...do not erode Tel Aviv’s military advantages"
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Abe Newman
This book will change the way you see the whole world.
As we all crawl through the Cloudflare slowdown, it is a powerful reminder that the international economy is not flat but built around key chokepoints. And those chokepoints are sites of vulnerability as well as opportunity.
www.amazon.com/Underground-...
www.amazon.com/Underground-...
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy [Farrell, Henry, Newman, Abraham] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy
www.amazon.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:45 PM
This book will change the way you see the whole world.
As we all crawl through the Cloudflare slowdown, it is a powerful reminder that the international economy is not flat but built around key chokepoints. And those chokepoints are sites of vulnerability as well as opportunity.
www.amazon.com/Underground-...
www.amazon.com/Underground-...
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy [Farrell, Henry, Newman, Abraham] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy
www.amazon.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM
As we all crawl through the Cloudflare slowdown, it is a powerful reminder that the international economy is not flat but built around key chokepoints. And those chokepoints are sites of vulnerability as well as opportunity.
www.amazon.com/Underground-...
www.amazon.com/Underground-...
Reposted by Abe Newman
YES YES YES - great thinking, great research, real thinking-help here.
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM
YES YES YES - great thinking, great research, real thinking-help here.
Reposted by Abe Newman
great thread on how trump's personalist regime is playing out in the international arena. personalism as a mode of rule is not identical with, but is quite compatible with, reactionary policy agendas. it is this corruption we are going to need to CLEAN OUT
www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...
www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...
November 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
great thread on how trump's personalist regime is playing out in the international arena. personalism as a mode of rule is not identical with, but is quite compatible with, reactionary policy agendas. it is this corruption we are going to need to CLEAN OUT
www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...
www.liberalcurrents.com/americas-pat...
Reposted by Abe Newman
Super important thread about why the rules-based international order was better than the system of royals that it replaced; and why oligarchs and grifters want to bring royalty back.
6/Neo-royalism asks what happens to international politics when small groups of hyper elites (royalist cliques) become the central actor in world politics rather than the state. In short, tribute/extraction and exceptionalism replace rules and sovereign equality. Its all about the squeeze.
November 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Super important thread about why the rules-based international order was better than the system of royals that it replaced; and why oligarchs and grifters want to bring royalty back.
Reposted by Abe Newman
Interesting way of thinking about the way power and authority has shifted under Trump. None of this can just be about him — there was a world ready and willing for this kind of transactional relationship-based power.
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Interesting way of thinking about the way power and authority has shifted under Trump. None of this can just be about him — there was a world ready and willing for this kind of transactional relationship-based power.
Reposted by Abe Newman
Our New World Order😑
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Our New World Order😑
Reposted by Abe Newman
New paper on “Neo-Royalism” by @segoddard.bsky.social @abenewman.bsky.social - looks related to Autocracy Inc by @anneapplebaum.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 2:51 PM
New paper on “Neo-Royalism” by @segoddard.bsky.social @abenewman.bsky.social - looks related to Autocracy Inc by @anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Reposted by Abe Newman
The “old order” in this case being technocratic liberalism rooted in reverence for institutional stability via standardized rules & procedures, for epistemic deference to science & expertise, and for cosmopolitanism & politesse.
12/Why does Trump keep denigrating the EU? Because it is a remnant of the old order and must be delegitimized to make way for the new order.
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
EU was born to 'screw' US, Trump says
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the European Union was born to "screw" the United States, laying bare his hostility to the longtime US partner as he detailed new tariffs.
www.france24.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The “old order” in this case being technocratic liberalism rooted in reverence for institutional stability via standardized rules & procedures, for epistemic deference to science & expertise, and for cosmopolitanism & politesse.
Reposted by Abe Newman
🧵
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
🧵
Reposted by Abe Newman
“neo-royalism” 👀
5/Its easy (or difficult to swallow) this as corruption/crony capitalism. But in a new paper w/ @segoddard.bsky.social in IO, we argue these interactions suggest something much more fundamental -- a shift in the international order which we call neo-royalism.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
“neo-royalism” 👀
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
Latest Transatlantic Tremors: US Senate advancing Russia Sanctions, Ukraine buying French Jets and Albania coming one step closer to EU membership.
open.substack.com/pub/transatl...
open.substack.com/pub/transatl...
11/17 US Senate advancing Russia Sanctions, Ukraine buying French Jets and Albania coming one step closer to EU membership
photo by Douglas O on Unsplash, showing the Albanian National History Museum in Tirana
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Latest Transatlantic Tremors: US Senate advancing Russia Sanctions, Ukraine buying French Jets and Albania coming one step closer to EU membership.
open.substack.com/pub/transatl...
open.substack.com/pub/transatl...
Reposted by Abe Newman
In return for lower tariffs than those that Trump imposed or threatened, some Asian countries are accepting a surprising number and scope of Washington’s demands, writes columnist @agathedemarais.bsky.social.
Why Did Asian Countries Give Trump So Much on Trade?
The new deals contain unusual concessions that could change the flow of goods in Asia.
foreignpolicy.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:30 AM
In return for lower tariffs than those that Trump imposed or threatened, some Asian countries are accepting a surprising number and scope of Washington’s demands, writes columnist @agathedemarais.bsky.social.
In some ways, the Swiss story is even more concerning than the Saudi deal. These are the states that should be defending liberal norms. As they cave to neo-royalist tactics, they only embolden a new order that will undermine their interests.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
November 15, 2025 at 2:43 PM
In some ways, the Swiss story is even more concerning than the Saudi deal. These are the states that should be defending liberal norms. As they cave to neo-royalist tactics, they only embolden a new order that will undermine their interests.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
1/How to make sense of Saudi-US expose -- golf course licenses and real estate deals for a defense agreement and nuke tech? Enter the world of neo-royalism (www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/w...
Trump Organization Is Said to Be in Talks on a Saudi Government Real Estate Deal
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:19 PM
1/How to make sense of Saudi-US expose -- golf course licenses and real estate deals for a defense agreement and nuke tech? Enter the world of neo-royalism (www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/w...
Reposted by Abe Newman
Kate McNamara, Professor & author of The Politics of Everyday Europe, treats writing as a way of thinking clearly about power, markets & the ideas that connect them.
For her, writing isn’t easy, it’s a struggle, but one worth having!
🪶 New: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...
🧵
For her, writing isn’t easy, it’s a struggle, but one worth having!
🪶 New: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...
🧵
Etched in Marble: Kate McNamara on Imagination, Compassion, and the Struggle Worth Having
Writers on the Forces That Shape Us and the Writing That Endures
catherineeunicedevries.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Kate McNamara, Professor & author of The Politics of Everyday Europe, treats writing as a way of thinking clearly about power, markets & the ideas that connect them.
For her, writing isn’t easy, it’s a struggle, but one worth having!
🪶 New: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...
🧵
For her, writing isn’t easy, it’s a struggle, but one worth having!
🪶 New: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...
🧵
As Russia continues to threaten the eastern flank of NATO with drone flights and bombings in Ukrainian cities, the US...reduces troops from Romania. The "political symbolism is a bit weird to have right now”. Ya think?
thehill.com/policy/defen...
thehill.com/policy/defen...
thehill.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:17 PM
As Russia continues to threaten the eastern flank of NATO with drone flights and bombings in Ukrainian cities, the US...reduces troops from Romania. The "political symbolism is a bit weird to have right now”. Ya think?
thehill.com/policy/defen...
thehill.com/policy/defen...
Reposted by Abe Newman
👇👇
As Trump Admin uses mob-like tactics to threaten diplomats at international climate talks, important to reengage conversation on what is legitimate use of the economic weapon. New open access piece in JIEL w/Elena Chachko. (academic.oup.com/jiel/article...)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/c...
Trump Officials Accused of Bullying Tactics to Kill a Climate Measure
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:10 PM
👇👇
As Trump Admin uses mob-like tactics to threaten diplomats at international climate talks, important to reengage conversation on what is legitimate use of the economic weapon. New open access piece in JIEL w/Elena Chachko. (academic.oup.com/jiel/article...)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/c...
Trump Officials Accused of Bullying Tactics to Kill a Climate Measure
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
As Trump Admin uses mob-like tactics to threaten diplomats at international climate talks, important to reengage conversation on what is legitimate use of the economic weapon. New open access piece in JIEL w/Elena Chachko. (academic.oup.com/jiel/article...)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/c...